Department for Communities and Local Government

Non-domestic Rates

Lord Young of Cookham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether, following the Spending Review 2015, they have undertaken any analysis of the relationship between the value of business rates collected by local authorities and the local level of deprivation according to the English Indices of Deprivation.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: Under the current rates retention scheme, and under the new 100 percent scheme to be introduced by the end of the Parliament, there is, and will continue to be, a measure of redistribution of local tax income. This ensures that those authorities with higher relative spending needs compared to their tax base will receive additional funding through the redistribution mechanism; and means that any comparison of local business rates income and levels of deprivation would be misleading.

Non-domestic Rates

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of their commitment to consult on 100 per cent retention of business rates by local authorities by the end of this Parliament, what additional resources would be available to each local authority with adult social care functions if they had been able to keep all the business rates collected in their area in 2014–15, and what proportion of their total expenditure that business rate retention amounted to.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: The Government intends to move to 100 percent business rates retention in England by the end of this Parliament. We have confirmed that as part of the new system there will continue to be redistribution of local tax revenue between authorities and protections in place for authorities that see their business rates income fall significantly. Over the coming months we will be working with local government on the details of the scheme. Ahead of final decisions, it is too early to assess what the impact will be on individual areas or authorities.

Housing: Disability

Baroness Redfern: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is being done to increase the number of specially adapted homes in (1) North Lincolnshire, and (2) nationally, so that those with complex care needs can live independently for longer.

Baroness Williams of Trafford: Since 2011 the Government has invested over a billion pounds into the Disabled Facilities Grant to fund adaptations to disabled people’s homes to help them live independently and safely at home for longer. This provides for around 40,000 adaptations each year and around 200,000 homes have been adapted since 2010. North Lincolnshire has received £5,143,717 of this funding over this period. Future funding for the Disabled Facilities Grant will rise to over £500 million in 2019-20.The Government is also providing specialised housing for disabled and older people through the Care and Support Specialised Housing Fund and the Affordable Homes Programme and these will deliver 24 specialised homes in North Lincolnshire between 2011 – 2018.In the Spending Review we have committed to £400 million of funding to deliver 8,000 specialist homes for the vulnerable, elderly or those with disabilities. A commitment to funding from Department of Health could deliver up to a further 7,500 homes over the Spending Review.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

South Sudan: Armed Conflict

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what response they have made to the violence against women in South Sudan since conflict broke out in December 2013.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We remain deeply concerned by the situation in South Sudan and are responding accordingly. We are pressing the Government of Sudan to progress its commitments to tackle violence against women and raised this issue most recently with the Minister of Defence in November. The UK’s humanitarian programme has a strong focus on protection, including supporting the prevention of sexual and gender-based violence. We are also supporting projects that empower women and seek to provide justice to the most vulnerable groups, including women and girls. Additionally, the UK played a key role to ensure the new mandate of the UN Mission in South Sudan has an even stronger focus on protecting civilians, including women and girls.

Darfur: War Crimes

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what response they have made to the statement by the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court calling for the UN Security Council to do more to demonstrate its commitment to Darfur and to ensure that the perpetrators of past crimes are held to account.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: In response to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC)’s report, presented to the UN Security Council on 15 December, the UK made clear that it remains fully committed to supporting UN Security Council action on Darfur. We continue to push for effective follow-up action to ensure the Court can fulfil the mandate given to it by the UN Security Council. We have also made clear to the Government of Sudan and the international community that we expect compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 1593 and the Rome Statute, and execution of the arrest warrants for the ICC indictees, including President Bashir. The UK will remain active on this issue.

Uganda: Elections

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of evidence that Ugandan police, in the run-up to the election in February 2016, have used live ammunition to disperse opposition gatherings, and have committed other serious human rights violations.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: In our regular dialogue with the Ugandan government we stress the importance of protecting public order in a way that also protects the rights to freedom of expression and assembly. We are reinforcing that point with the Government of Uganda, bilaterally and with EU partners, in the run up to the February 2016 elections. The use of live ammunition by the Ugandan police to disperse crowds raises serious concerns about public safety.Peaceful exercise of freedoms of speech and assembly is fundamental to any democratic society and is provided for and protected under Uganda’s constitution. During his visit to Uganda on 15 December, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Rochford and Southend East (James Duddridge), underlined that it is vital for Uganda’s future that the elections in 2016 are credible, inclusive and transparent, and that they are underpinned by a respect for human rights. An EU election observation mission will be deployed to Uganda later this month.

Central African Republic: Elections

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for pressing the government of the Central African Republic to delay the planned election until there is confidence that that election can be held safely and that all eligible voters will be on the electoral roll.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: The British Government remains supportive of the elections planned for 27 December in the Central African Republic (CAR). This date has been agreed by the transitional government and the international community. Elections in CAR have already been delayed this year. Further delays would allow armed groups and spoilers to enhance their position and strengthen their rhetoric. There must be an end to the transition phase in order to secure a stable peace, and allow reconciliation to begin. By 16 November, when voter registration closed, approximately 95 per cent of the estimated electorate were registered, which is a significant success for the CAR transitional authorities. Out-of-country voter registration of Central African refugees and diaspora progressed more slowly, with approximately one third of the estimated refugee electorate registered. In the referendum on 13 December, judged a success by a UN Security Council assessment, many of CAR’s population turned out determined to vote. Through the international community, we will work to ensure that an elected president appoints an inclusive government representative of CAR’s population. Due to the commitment of the international community to the election date, agreement was found for some 300 extra UN troops to be provided to ensure security during the election period.

Ivory Coast

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their latest assessment of the situation in Ivory Coast.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: Côte d'Ivoire has made significant progress since its 2010-2011 post-electoral crisis. Though challenges remain, there has been a sustained period of political stability and improved security, as well as increasing economic growth and investor confidence. Following President Ouattara’s victory in the 25 October elections, we hope to see the Government of Cote d’Ivoire further consolidate peace and stability, as well as re-establish the country as a high performing regional economic hub.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Government

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Dunlop on 27 November (HL3723) and 8 December (HL4130), whether those answers include all security personnel who served in Northern Ireland but are not from Northern Ireland.

Lord Dunlop: I have nothing further to add to my earlier responses.

Elections: Northern Ireland

Lord Empey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland has the power to require district councils in Northern Ireland to conduct election counts for elections to Westminster and the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Lord Empey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether there are any plans to reduce the number of local electoral offices in Northern Ireland.

Lord Empey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they plan to require district councils in Northern Ireland to conduct election counts other than those for district council elections.

Lord Empey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the budget for the delivery of electoral services in Northern Ireland in 2013–14, 2014–15 and 2015–16, and what will be the budget for 2016–17, 2017–18 and 2018–19.

Lord Empey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the total number of persons currently employed to deliver electoral services in Northern Ireland.

Lord Empey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the employment projections for electoral offices in Northern Ireland in 2016–17, 2017–18, and 2018–19.

Lord Dunlop: The Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland is currently considering a range of options for reforming his Office. This includes capitalising on new technology by introducing on-line registration.The Chief Electoral Officer will have regard to the continued effective delivery of elections in Northern Ireland and ensuring that his Office remains on a sustainable financial footing. The Northern Ireland Office fully supports him in this approach. I understand that work on some options is at an early stage.The Representation of the People Act 1983 makes provision for the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland to delegate returning officer functions to the clerk of a district council.Detailed questions on headcount and budget are operational matters for the Chief Electoral Officer who is independent of Government. The Chief Electoral Officer publishes all such information in his annual report which is presented to Parliament and copies are made available in the Library of the House.The headline budgets allocated to the Chief Electoral Office are:Financial YearOperational FundingCapital Funding2013/14£5.452m *£100k2014/15£2.336m£56.2k2015/16£2.296m£25k* includes £3m for the 2013 canvassThe Northern Ireland Office has not agreed any budgets with the Chief Electoral Officer for future years pending receipt of the Department’s detailed Spending Review 2015 settlement letter from HM Treasury.

Northern Ireland Government

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Dunlop on 12 November (HL 3335) concerning contact with the government of the Republic of Ireland, what progress has been made in the development of human rights in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland as contained in the Belfast Agreement of 1998.

Lord Dunlop: The UK and Irish Governments meet regularly both at ministerial and official level to discuss issues of mutual interest and concern, including the development of human rights in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland as contained in the Belfast Agreement of 1998.The Government was elected in May with a clear mandate to implement its manifesto commitment to replace the Human Rights Act with a British Bill of Rights. We believe that it is entirely possible to do that in ways that are consistent with the Belfast Agreement.

Northern Ireland Government

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have had with the government of the Republic of Ireland within the framework of the Belfast Agreement of 1998 about the provisions in that Agreement concerning the right of residence.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The UK and Irish Governments meet regularly both at ministerial and official level to discuss issues of mutual interest and concern. These include rights issues in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland as contained in the Belfast Agreement of 1998.

Welfare State: Northern Ireland

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Dunlop on 9 December (HL4222, HL4272 and HL4321), which peers and MPs who are based in Northern Ireland were invited by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Theresa Villiers, to her briefing on the Northern Ireland (Welfare Reform) Bill on 23 November; at what time and where the briefing took place; and why no peer or MP from Northern Ireland appears to have received the invitation circulated electronically.

Lord Dunlop: An invitation to the briefing on the Northern Ireland (Welfare Reform) Bill was circulated electronically to all Peers via the Usual Channels. The briefing was held on Monday 23 November at 12 noon in Committee Room 4A at the House of Lords.

Welfare State: Northern Ireland

Lord Rogan: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which peers and MPs were invited to attend a briefing with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on the Northern Ireland (Welfare Reform) Bill on 23 November.

Lord Dunlop: An invitation to the briefing on the Northern Ireland (Welfare Reform) Bill held on Monday 23 November was circulated electronically to all Peers via the Usual Channels.

Welfare State: Northern Ireland

Lord Rogan: To ask Her Majesty’s Government which peers and MPs attended the briefing with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on the Northern Ireland (Welfare Reform) Bill on 23 November.

Lord Dunlop: The Peers who attended the briefing with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland on the Northern Ireland (Welfare Reform) Bill included: Lord McAvoy; Baroness Randerson; and Lord Trimble.

Northern Ireland Government

Lord Hay of Ballyore: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have for a new round of talks with the political parties in Northern Ireland, in order to break the deadlock over legacy issues in Northern Ireland.

Lord Dunlop: The UK Government remains committed to establishing the legacy bodies. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has met a number of interested stakeholders in recent days, including the Victims Commissioner and the Victims and Survivors Forum. It is her intention to meet with the political parties early in the New Year, along with further engagement with victims groups.

Northern Ireland Government

Lord Eames: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will consider publishing the papers on legacy issues shared by the parties during the recent Stormont House discussions.

Lord Dunlop: The UK Government is committed to establishing the legacy bodies set out in the Stormont House Agreement. We are considering whether further drafting or documentation should be published as part of an engagement process on how to move forward on this issue.

Parades Commission: Freedom of Information

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Northern Ireland Parades Commission can have its files and information accessed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: The Parades Commission for Northern Ireland is a specified public body under Part VII of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and subject to the provisions of the Act.

Department for Education

Secondary Education: Performance Standards

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, on the current definition of "coasting", what percentage of secondary schools with an average KS2 points score of (1) below 26, (2) 26–28, (3) 28–30, and (4) more than 30, would be defined as coasting on their (a) 2014, and (b) 2015, results.

Earl of Courtown: No school can be defined as coasting under the government’s proposed coasting definition until after the 2016 results are available. The definition of coasting is determined by performance over a three year period.

Primary Education: Performance Standards

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, on the current definition of "coasting", what percentage of primary schools that are (1) sponsored academies, and (2) maintained schools, broken down by decile of KS1 points score, would be identified as coasting on their (a) 2014, and (b) 2015, results.

Earl of Courtown: No school can be defined as coasting under the government’s proposed coasting definition until after the 2016 results are available. The definition of coasting is determined by performance over a three year period.

English Baccalaureate

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of pupils take a full EBacc range of subjects in (1) sponsored academies, and (2) maintained schools.

Earl of Courtown: Provisional figures for 2014/15 show that 27.8 per cent of pupils in sponsored academies and 37.5 per cent of pupils in local authority maintained mainstream schools were entered for all components of the English Baccalaureate (EBacc).This information is published in the Statistical First Release “Provisional GCSE and equivalent results in England: 2014 to 2015”.[1]A list of qualifications which count towards the English Baccalaureate is available on the school performance tables’ website.[2][1] 2014/15 provisional table can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/467605/SFR37_2015_National_Tables.xlsx. (Years: 2014/15 Table 3a)[2] A list of qualifications which count towards the English Baccalaureate can be found at: http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/performance/secondary_14/English_Baccalaureate_list_of_qualifications_July_2015.xls.

GCSE

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of pupils in (1) sponsored academies, and (2) maintained schools, take a GCSE in (a) a qualifying language, and (b) a qualifying humanities subject.

Earl of Courtown: The percentage of pupils who took a GCSE in a qualifying language or humanities subject in 2013/14 is given below:Percentage of pupils taking a qualifying subject in:LanguagesHumanitiesSponsored academies38.954.1LA maintained mainstream schools49.464.5

Academies: Performance Standards

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of (1) all multi-academy trusts, and (2) multi-academy trusts with at least five schools, achieve above average value added.

Earl of Courtown: Value added scores are routinely published for individual schools as part of the department’s performance tables, which include the functionality to filter results by an academy sponsor.The department does not publish a summary of value added scores for each academy chain or multi-academy trust. Simple aggregations of performance measures can lead to misleading conclusions about performance within a chain since they will often reflect the type of schools that have entered into the chain relationship.Earlier this year, the department published a statistical working paper to consider how these issues may be addressed and invited comments from users. This can be found in the attachment to this answer.



attachment_to_hl4538 
(PDF Document, 2.53 MB)

Schools: Performance Standards

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what percentage of sponsored academies that were rated inadequate by Ofsted on conversion remained inadequate at their next inspection, and what percentage of maintained schools that were rated inadequate by Ofsted at their previous inspection, but remained maintained, remained inadequate at their latest inspection.

Earl of Courtown: This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw. I have asked him to write to you and a copy of his reply will be placed in the libraries of the House.

Academies: Performance Standards

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what evidence they have, if any, to show that sponsored academies are more successful at improving in terms of Ofsted status, when compared to similar maintained schools.

Earl of Courtown: Ofsted inspection reports for sponsored academies are readily available, as is information on exam performance.Sponsored academies are transforming some of the worst underperforming schools under the guidance of an expert sponsor. Becoming an academy enables us to move quickly to replace poor leadership and governance in these failing schools, giving strong leaders the freedom to make decisions that will drive up standards balanced with tough accountability.The latest Ofsted Annual Report (December 2015) stated that: “Sponsor-led academies were initially created to raise attainment in schools with long-standing poor performance, often in very deprived areas. Attainment in these schools has increased over time, with the longest standing academies having the strongest performance.”

Mathematics: GCE A-level

Lord Watson of Invergowrie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many A-level Maths entries there were between 2002 and 2009, and between 2010 and 2015.

Lord Watson of Invergowrie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many A-level Physics entries there were between 2006 and 2009, and between 2010 and 2015.

Lord Watson of Invergowrie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many A-level English entries there were between 2006 and 2009, and between 2010 and 2015.

Lord Watson of Invergowrie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many A-level Modern Languages entries there were between 2006 and 2009, and between 2010 and 2015.

Lord Watson of Invergowrie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many A-level French entries there were between 2006 and 2009, and between 2010 and 2015.

Lord Watson of Invergowrie: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many A-level German entries there were between 2006 and 2009, and between 2010 and 2015.

Earl of Courtown: Time series information on the number of A Level entries for the requested subjects in the years requested is published in the Statistical First Release “Provisional A level and other level 3 results in England: 2014 to 2015” and presented in the following table:Number of A Level entries for the stated subjectYearMathsPhysicsEnglishFrenchGermanModern Foreign Languages[1]200244,156200344,453200446,017200546,034200649,80523,65778,14712,1905,53428,010200753,33123,88777,50212,1525,61528,377200857,61824,70380,91712,6055,56029,423200964,51725,62083,64912,2315,11929,529201069,80327,78684,03712,3245,05529,855201175,54629,20583,10311,4904,55429,241201278,07730,74982,82510,8714,20828,375201380,56731,90883,4259,8783,77427,252201479,03632,22678,2159,0783,71626,4772015[2]82,05431,93481,5549,0003,62327,755Source: 16-18 attainment data  [1] Includes French, German, Spanish and other Modern Foreign Languages[2] 2014/15 figures are based on provisional data. Figures for all other years are final.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Fraud

Baroness Kennedy of Cradley: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of the law to protect vulnerable people from phone phishing and other communication scams.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Government is cracking down on nuisance calls. Over the last five years the average fine issued has increased from around £5000 to £85000, we have strengthened the law to make it easier to clamp down on companies who break the rules and have increased the maximum fine to £500,000.The Government takes all types of fraud extremely seriously. We are working closely with the City of London Police (CoLP), the national lead force for fraud, to help local forces and partners deliver protective advice to the public on fraud, including phone scams. CoLP operates Action Fraud, the national reporting centre for fraud and cyber crime, and the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, to ensure that the public has the information they need to protect themselves from telephone fraud. Action Fraud, for example, places an alert on its website when a serious threat or new type of fraud is identified - which members of the public can sign up to receive by email.We are also working with Financial Fraud Action UK and the British Bankers’ Association who issue advice to consumers on how to protect themselves from phone scammers. Ofcom work with the Metropolitan Police Service, Action Fraud and landline providers to prevent criminals exploiting phone lines to defraud members of the public.

Department for Work and Pensions

Social Security Benefits: Young People

Baroness Armstrong of Hill Top: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many single parents aged between 18 and 25 currently receive Income Support and Jobseeker’s Allowance; and of those, how many they estimate are care leavers.

Baroness Altmann: The Department collects information for those aged 18 to 24 and the latest information available at May 2015 shows that for this age group there were 121,950 lone parents receiving Income Support and 3,500 people, without an additional payment for a partner and with at least one dependent child, receiving Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA).Please note that the figures are rounded to the nearest ten.The information requested for those who are care leavers is not readily available and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Dairy Farming

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of large-scale indoor dairies in the UK.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: I recognise that the issue of large-scale dairy farming has sparked considerable debate because of its perceived impact on the environment, the welfare of cows and the potential impact on small dairy farms.The UK’s animal welfare and environmental standards are among the highest in the world. All operational livestock farms must comply with relevant UK law, including comprehensive animal health and welfare, and environmental legislation. These apply equally to all livestock farms, regardless of scale. So long as these standards are met, the Government recognises that the UK market has a place for different production methods that will collectively enable the industry to be competitive on UK, EU and global markets.Increasing the size of herds does not mean reducing animal welfare. More important factors are the design and construction of the units; and the level of management and skill of the stockmen.

Home Office

Counter-terrorism

Lord Sharkey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many cases are currently being dealt with by the Channel programme, and how many of those have been because of suspected vulnerability to extremist Islamist views, and how many for other reasons.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Since Channel was rolled out nationally in 2012, over 4000 people have been referred to the programme, and hundreds successfully supported. National Counter Terrorism Policing has published its own data on Channel at the following URL:http://www.acpo.police.uk/ACPOBusinessAreas/PREVENT/NationalChannelReferralFigures.aspx

Visas: Married People

Lord Ahmed: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the rate of allegations against a spouse of domestic violence or rape by women who have entered the UK on a spousal visa in each of the last five years.

Lord Bates: Allegations of rape or domestic violence are a matter for individual police forces and not recorded in statistics relating to immigration control.Information on grants of settlement due to domestic violence after leave to remain granted as a spouse, is given in the link below, table se_04, Immigration Statistics July-September 2015) and are available from the library of the House: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-july-to-september-2015/list-of-tables#settlement

Police

Lord Condon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what new arrangements have been made in 2015, nationally, regionally, or locally, for police forces formally to share operational or support functions.

Lord Bates: Chief Constables and PCCs are best placed to consider whether and how their forces’ operational or support functions should be shared. The number of collaborations continues to increase, with at least 4 new alliances involving 9 forces announced in 2015.Regional Organised Crime Units, the National Crime Agency and local law enforcement continue to develop specialist capabilities to tackle a range of threats, including serious and organised crime, child sexual abuse and cyber crime. The Government supports the current review by the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners into where specialist policing capabilities best sit, and how they should be delivered, to provide a common basis for future collaboration decisions.To continue to strengthen and improve mutual aid arrangements, the National Police Coordination Centre is working with the National Police Chiefs’ Council and the College of Policing to develop consistent national standards.

Ministry of Defence

Aircraft Carriers: Military Aircraft

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answers by Earl Howe on 16 December (HL4512 and HL4513), what "when necessary to deliver the carrier strike programme" means precisely.

Earl Howe: Our aim is to ensure that embarked, jointly manned F-35B air squadrons operate to the same harmony guidelines. The overall principle is that we will manage all embarked air squadrons - which will include Fixed and Rotary Wing forces and personnel from all three Services - to ensure that the different harmony guidelines which all three Services routinely apply, do not adversely affect the way in which the operational output of the aircraft carriers will be delivered, and that they do not undermine joint unit or joint force cohesion. This principle will be given practical application as we continue our work to develop the routine carrier, combat air and helicopter operating cycles from 2020.

Navy

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what use the Royal Navy is making of unmanned vehicles.

Earl Howe: The Royal Navy (RN) recognises that autonomous systems offer a unique opportunity to maintain our operational advantage, and benefits significantly from the use of unmanned vehicles in both air and sea environments.The Scan Eagle Unmanned Aircraft System offers enhanced maritime surveillance and improved situational awareness in support of the RN in a number of operational theatres.The Hunt Class Mine Countermeasure Vessels employ an Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) for remote mine-disposal known as the Seafox mine-disposal system. In addition, the Fleet Diving Squadron employs a small UUV for seabed searches.The RN continues to explore how autonomous systems can further augment its capabilities into the future.

HM Treasury

Debts

Lord Birt: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Deighton on 10 February (HL4482), what assessment they have made of what is an acceptable and safe level of borrowing for (1) individuals and households, (2) non-financial corporations, and (3) financial institutions.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: The government does not have an explicit target for household or corporate borrowing. The government is adamant not to repeat the mistakes of the past, which is why it created the independent Financial Policy Committee (FPC) within the Bank of England to ensure that emerging risks and vulnerabilities across the financial system as a whole are identified, monitored and effectively addressed.

Debts

Lord Birt: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Deighton on 9 March (HL5261), whether they have identified a threshold level of private-sector or financial corporation debt that might "threaten financial stability", and if so, what that level is, and what steps they plan to take if it is reached.

Lord Birt: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Deighton on 9 March (HL5261), whether they have considered setting an explicit target for private-sector and financial corporation debt, and if not, why not.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: As mentioned in the answer of 9 March, the Government does not set a specific target for private sector debt. However, the Financial Policy Committee (FPC), established as a policy committee of the Bank of England, is empowered to identify, assess, monitor and take action in relation to risks across the UK financial system. This includes risks which arise from beyond the core banking sector (such as private sector debt). The FPC actively monitors developments in the aggregate level of credit extended to UK households and private non-financial corporations, and has the macroprudential policy tools required to address any risk it identifies.For example, the countercyclical buffer is a macroprudential instrument which is designed to protect the banking sector from periods of excess aggregate credit growth that can contribute to system-wide risk. The countercyclical buffer rate in the UK is currently set at 0%, and is reviewed on a quarterly basis.

Electronic Commerce: VAT

Lord Lucas: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord O’Neill of Gatley on 8 December (HL3854), what were the dates of the last three written communications from HMRC to Trading Standards about VAT fraud among online traders operating from abroad, including email, and to what persons at what offices they were addressed.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: HM Revenue & Customs does not disclose communications it has with its enforcement partners, or the content of those communications, to avoid compromising sensitive policy and operational activities.

Bank Services: Cuba

Lord Hutton of Furness: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what advice has been given to UK banks regarding business and personal financial transactions between UK individuals or UK-registered companies and Cuban counterparties based in Cuba.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: Cuba has previously been subject to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)’s on-going Global AML/CFT Compliance Process due to concerns over strategic deficiencies in its systems for anti-money laundering (AML) and combatting terrorist financing (CTF). HM Government notifies the financial sector of FATF’s decision to list countries and the risks associated with transactions with identified countries. In October 2014, the UK welcomed Cuba’s significant progress in improving its controls and noted that Cuba was no longer subject to the FATF’s monitoring process. This was also communicated to industry.There are no UK, EU or UN sanctions regimes restricting transactions between the UK and Cuba. The US has economic sanctions against Cuba. EU legislation (Council Regulation (EC) No 2271/96) provides protection against and counteracts the effects of the extra-territorial application of US Cuba sanctions within the EU. The Government does not provide advice on sanctions regimes outside UK jurisdiction and does not intervene in the decisions of banks or other financial firms when made on the basis of their internal risk assessments.

Energy: Enterprise Investment Scheme

Lord Teverson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why they afforded community energy schemes less than one month’s notice for the implementation of changes to the tax rules, but allowed a phasing out of Enterprise Investment Scheme relief for all generation projects over a longer period.

Lord Teverson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what evidence they have of misuse of the Enterprise Investment Scheme for community energy projects that contributed to their decision to withdraw the scheme for those purposes.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: The purpose of the tax-advantaged venture capital schemes is to encourage investment into smaller, higher risk companies that would otherwise struggle to access the funding they need to develop and grow.Changes have been made to the schemes over time to ensure that asset-backed activities, as well as those that benefit from predictable and reliable income streams, do not qualify, since these often represent lower-risk investments that should be able to secure finance without the need for tax relief. For example, different types of energy generation were excluded from the schemes in 2012, 2014 and 2015, due to clear evidence that such investments were particularly low-risk products offering return of capital, and were being explicitly marketed as such.Community energy projects in receipt of other government support were not excluded at the time of these previous changes. However, since then the government has become aware of significantly increased interest in the use of community energy for low-risk tax planning purposes. The number of community energy schemes registered as community interest companies (CICs) or community benefit societies has increased from about 5 in 2014 to about 200 by October 2015. The marketing material of these investments suggests that the level of investment risk for community energy, including solar, is comparable to that of activities that were previously excluded.The government announced at the Summer Budget 2015 that it would monitor the use of the venture capital schemes by community energy organisations to ensure that there was continued value for money for the taxpayer and that they were not the subject of misuse. The government subsequently announced the exclusion of subsidised renewable energy generation by community energy organisations on 26 October 2015, taking effect for investments made on or after 30 November 2015, providing a notice period of five weeks. At the same time, the government announced the exclusion of activities making reserve energy generating capacity available, also with effect for investments made on or after 30 November 2015.The government believes that the notice period given provided a good balance between the provision of notice to potential investors who might wish to take advantage of the tax reliefs provided through the schemes and the financial risk to the Exchequer that a longer notice period would carry.To further ensure the venture capital schemes remain well-targeted and deliver value for money, the government announced at Autumn Statement 2015 the exclusion of all remaining energy generation activities from the schemes with effect for investments made on or after 6 April 2016. The new exclusions will apply to both non-renewable and renewable sources of energy generation and apply irrespective of whether a subsidy is received or of the nature of the company carrying on the activities.

Government Departments: Temporary Employment

Baroness Sharp of Guildford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what cross-Government estimates they have made in 2016–17 departmental budgets for the extra cost of agency and contract staff of HMRC’s proposals on not allowing staff employed through agencies or contractors to claim tax relief on their travel and subsistence expenses.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: No cross-government estimates have been made for the extra cost of agency and contract staff in 2016-17 departmental budgets, following the restriction of tax relief on travel and subsistence for workers engaged through an employment intermediary.The changes are aimed at ensuring the tax system provides no individuals or business with an unfair advantage by preventing temporary workers, who are employed through employment intermediaries, and their employers, from benefiting for relief for home-to-work travel and subsistence expenses. This relief is not generally available to other workers who are employed directly or through temporary work contracts.

Supply Teachers: Tax Allowances

Baroness Sharp of Guildford: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are their estimates for the extra cost of supply teachers of HMRC’s proposals on not allowing staff engaged through agencies to claim tax relief on their travel and subsistence expenses.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: No estimates have been made for the extra cost of supply teachers following restrictions to tax relief on travel and subsistence expenses for those working through employment intermediaries. The planned changes will put supply teachers employed through an intermediary on the same terms as other supply teachers, either contracted directly, or through an agency contract.

Stamp Duty Reserve Tax

Baroness Worthington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the amount of stamp duty reserve tax that will be repaid following the 2012 decision of the First-Tier Tribunal (Tax) in the case of HSBC Holdings PLC and the Bank of New York Mellon Corporation v HMRC (TC/2009/165484).

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) is not in a position to provide an assessment of Stamp Duty Reserve Tax that may be repaid following the 2012 First Tier Tribunal decision in the case of HSBC Holdings PLC and the Bank of New York Mellon Corporation v HMRC. This is due to ongoing litigation of cases arising from that decision.

Stamp Duty Reserve Tax

Baroness Worthington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how much stamp duty reserve tax has been repaid following the 2012 decision of the First-Tier Tribunal (Tax) in the case of HSBC Holdings PLC and the Bank of New York Mellon Corporation v HMRC (TC/2009/165484).

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: The First Tier Tribunal in the case of HSBC Holdings PLC and the Bank of New York Mellon Corporation v HMRC decided in March 2012 that the taxing of Stamp Duty Reserve Tax at 1.5% on a transfer of shares which is integral to a share capital raising exercise to a depositary receipt issuer or clearance service, infringed the Capital Duty Directive. Following that decision, HMRC has repaid a total of £168 million Stamp Duty Reserve Tax to various claimants.

Financial Services: Pay

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the case for financial services executives being paid according to the number of women in senior roles.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: The Government has asked Jayne-Anne Gadhia, CEO of Virgin Money, to lead a review into the representation of women in senior managerial roles in the financial services industry. One of Jayne-Anne Gadhia’s potential recommendations is to link variable pay for the Executive Team to reaching internal targets set by the organisation on the representation of women at a senior level.The government welcomes Jayne-Anne Gadhia’s work to date and will consider the final recommendations when the review reports next year.

VAT: Northern Ireland

Lord Hay of Ballyore: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans, if any, they have for reducing the rate of VAT on the hospitality sector in Northern Ireland.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: Normal EU VAT rules do not permit the variation of rates within a Member State. The Government currently has no plans to introduce a reduced rate of VAT for the UK hospitality sector.

Social Services: Finance

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what proportion of the allocations for the Department for Communities and Local Government DEL in Table 2.17 on page 100 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 relates to adult social care in each year 2016–17 to 2019–20 inclusive; how those proportions compare with that for the baseline year of 2015–16; and what increases for adult social care are included in the locally financed expenditure for each year in that Table on the assumption of two per cent precept increase for adult social care in cash terms, at the 2015–16 baseline prices, and as a proportion of total local authority expenditure.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: The Government is clear that decisions on how money should be spent in the local area are best made by local authorities. Local Government spending power is therefore not ringfenced. This allows local authorities the freedom to prioritise and make their own decisions on spending. Table 2.17 on page 100 of the Spending Review shows a cash terms increase in local authority spending. This includes a £1.5 billion grant especially for social care within Local Government DEL and the Office for Budget Responsibility’s assessment of the increase likely to be raised through the social care precept within Locally Financed Expenditure.

Local Government Finance

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the other sources of local government income cited in the first bullet point of paragraph 2.123 on page 100 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: The other sources of local government income referred to in paragraph 2.123 includes business rates and council tax, both of which are forecast to increase over the course of the spending period. It is based on the English local authority current expenditure in supplementary fiscal table 2.31 to the OBR’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook publication (November 2015), excluding grants from central government.

Inflation

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the UK’s current CPI and RPI inflation rates.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: CPI inflation was 0.1 per cent in November 2015 and RPI inflation was 1.1 per cent. Low inflation is being driven by falling food and energy prices, and we continue to see a combination of low prices, rising pay packets and record high employment.

Department for Energy and Climate Change

Carbon Sequestration

Baroness Worthington: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the remarks by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 4 November during the Report stage of the Energy Bill [HL] (HL Deb, col 1641), what progress has been made towards establishing a Parliamentary Advisory Group on carbon capture and storage.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: We remain committed to establishing a Parliamentary Advisory Group on carbon capture and storage and met with Lord Oxburgh recently to discuss the group.

Environment Protection: Expenditure

Baroness Young of Old Scone: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the reply by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth on 15 December (HL Deb, col 1981), (1) what is the detailed breakdown of the figure of £122 billion spent annually in the UK on the low carbon economy, and (2) for each element of that figure, what proportion is spent by government, local government, business, individuals, and other bodies.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth: The size and performance of the UK low carbon economy report published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills [1] estimated that in 2013 the low carbon economy generated £70.8 billion in turnover [2] for those businesses operating directly in the sector. This grew to £121.7 billion when the supply chain is included. The breakdown of the £121.7 billion by sector for direct and indirect activity in 2013 is published in the report and is reproduced in Table 1 below. The report has not assessed the proportion of spend by different groups (e.g. government, local government, business, individuals, and other bodies) for these sectors.Table 1: Turnover by sector: 2013 (£million nominal)Sector of low carbon economyDirect [3] Turnover Indirect [4] Turnover Total Turnover Onshore wind3,6002,7006,300Offshore wind2,0001,5003,500Nuclear energy7,7004,40012,100Hydroelectric energy1,1008001,900Marine200200400Solar PV5,0003,5008,400Energy generation from waste and biomass2,4001,8004,100Carbon capture and storage400200600Biomass equipment1,5001,1002,500Geothermal500300800Heat pumps1,9001,3003,100Solar thermal500300800Heat networks100100200Energy-efficient lighting2,1001,4003,500Insulation3,1002,4005,500Energy-efficient windows and doors1,5001,3002,800Heat recovery and ventilation9006001,500Energy controls and control systems1,4009002,200Sustainable architecture and buildings500400900Low carbon advisory services1,7001,1002,800Low carbon finance600300900Recycling - recovery and reprocessing of materials from waste12,4009,50021,800Alternative fuels15,20010,90026,100Low emission vehicles4,6004,2008,800Total low carbon70,80050,900121,700Source: BIS (March 2015); the Size and Performance of the UK Low Carbon Economy[1] BIS (March 2015), The Size and Performance of the UK Low Carbon Economy https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/low-carbon-economy-size-and-performance[2] Turnover is defined as total revenues generated from business activities.[3] Direct activity is that immediately connected to one or more of the low carbon sectors. For example, this would include companies which manufacture wind turbines or develop[4] Indirect activity is that which occurs in the supply chain and supports activity in the direct low carbon sector. Although companies in the supply chain were not identified explicitly, their economic impact was estimated using multipliers.

Cabinet Office

Public Sector: Trade Unions

Lord Mendelsohn: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what impact assessment they conducted on provisions in the Trade Union Bill prohibiting public sector employers from providing a check-off service.

Lord Bridges of Headley: The prohibition on deduction of union subscriptions from wages in the public sector (check-off) is being considered in an impact assessment to be published in due course.

Medals

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the new Ebola medal takes precedence over jubilee medals in the order of wear.

Lord Bridges of Headley: The Jubilee Medals come ahead of the Ebola Medal for Service in West Africa in the current Order of Wear.